Tagged: mrs mopp cleaning services

Well school holidays are upon most of us and whilst children will be looking forward to weeks of fun and very little work, it can be a bit of a nightmare for parents.

Here at Mopp Towers, my children were introduced to cleaning and tidying at an early age, they learnt we do not have a Bedroom or Washing Up Fairy that cleans and tidies everything up while they sleep.

You have to be realistic of course, if you are a bit of a cleaning control freak you may find it hard to let your standards slip. But on the other hand any help is worth something – right? So here’s some advice I learnt along the way.

Seven Top Tips for Cleaning with the Kids

Start them Young

Young children love to please and help out so get them to watch and talk them through what you are doing at the beginning. Even a toddler can hold a (child friendly/chemical free) wipe and will imitate you – great for those low down jobs like skirting boars or chair legs! Very young children can put their toys away at the end of the day or help lay the table.

The Right Chores for the Right Age

Little people don’t always have the dexterity or concentration for complex tasks so you need to think about what chores are right for your child. You will set yourself and your child up to fail if you assign tasks beyond their capability. Better to have your children do something simple but well as you train them up to take on more complex tasks.

Lots of Praise and Encouragement

Children do take pride in what they do, so do thank them and praise them – and don’t expect perfection, especially at the beginning. Try not to associate cleaning with punishment as they will get discouraged and you will never get a willing participant.

Simple Instructions with a Time Limit

To many children ‘Clean up your Room’ can be overwhelming – where to start? Simple instructions like ‘Put all your toys away before teatime’, or ‘Put your dirty clothes in the Washing Basket’, will help younger children. Teenagers may be a different matter –but once again one task a day to clear a messy room will get there in the end.

Make it fun!

Well I love cleaning but for children you can introduce music and dancing or singing. You can even go so far as dressing up as characters from a favourite book or movie. Ring the changes a bit so, once in a while get the kids to shampoo the dog, declutter the toy box so they can choose a new toy. On nice days outdoor chores can be good fun such as sweeping the leaves or washing the car.

Reward

Verbal praise is essential but some families have a sticker chart, (one of Super Nannies great tips) this works well if you have more than one child who has completed their chores first and gets the most stickers! It is also good to have a schedule, making the time for cleaning and balancing out the week.

Other families find that they have to make activities more challenging. Trust your child to do some tasks a little quicker or unsupervised (after a bit of practice of course).

Declutter

Just like clearing up for the cleaner (last week’s blog – link) you will get more from your children if they have a clear area to clean. Clutter is confusing – they can of course help you with putting things away in the playroom or kitchen before the task of cleaning can begin.

If you give your children confidence they will feel more motivated to complete the weekly chores and be more independent, they will probably start suggesting new tasks they can take responsibility for like feeding a pet. And don’t forget you are building life-skills, before you know it you are packing them off to university able to cook, clean and look after themselves!

I’ve been in the cleaning business for many years and I know people can be confused about the various options for finding a cleaner. So what are the pros and cons and how do you choose the cleaning service that is right for you and your home?

I’ve been in the cleaning business for many years and I know people can be confused about the various options for finding a cleaner. So what are the pros and cons and how do you choose the cleaning service that is right for you and your home?

Mrs Mopp Prize Giveaway!

Spoil a special lady on Mother’s day with a pamper-hamper and a free 4 hour clean

What could you win?

Win A Mrs Mopp Clean and Pamper Hamper For Mother’s Day

WIN a Mrs Mopp 4 hour standard clean – we will provide the cleaning materials, equipment* and fully trained Moppettes to make your home sparkle and shine. We can either give your home a top to bottom refresh or we can spend that time concentrating on areas that need some special attention, it is totally up to you (*We do not supply mops or vacuums as standard)

How Can I Win?

Easy-peasy, just head across to the Mrs Mopp Facebook Page, like it, and then comment and like on our Mother’s Day post. Simples!

Rules

Our Mothers day prize draw will close on Sunday 26th March 2017, with the winner being drawn, on Monday 27th March

The Mrs Mopp Cleaning voucher, for a 4-hour standard clean, will be valid for 6 months from 27.03.17

The cleaning voucher and/or pamper hamper cannot be exchanged for any other product, service or monetary value

Do you want to give the gift of clean to someone special in your life?

Are you looking for a present that is a practical, useful, and different from what they sell in the shops? why not give the gift of clean?

Why not give the gift of clean?

We supply cleaning gift vouchers, for any occasion, from new home vouchers to new mother gifts, “mama’s helping hands”, to ‘with love’ vouchers for a homeowner who could just do with a break from the housework – Mrs Mopp will supply the cleaning products, the cleaning equipment and fully trained Moppettes to help the homeowner with anything from refreshing the home top to bottom, to focusing on areas of the home that may need a little extra TLC, to deep cleaning a room in fine detail

For those who want to do a something a little extra, we can supply gift wrapped baskets as shown on our Facebook page, or we can make up a gift basket of your choice, please contact us for any further information

What Does A Cleaner Need To Clean?

When it comes to hiring a cleaner, some cleaning providers will supply all the cleaning products and cleaning materials, and some will require the to client provide everything themselves – there is normally a difference in costs associated with each option.

If you are going with a lower tariff, within . cleaning business, or if you are employing a sole trader or cleaning agency, it will be usual for the client to provide all the cleaning materials and products, in order for the business to keep their labour and charge rate lower.

So, if you supply the products, what will your cleaner need to do a professional job?

Here’s a handy guide you can print or pin:

What do you think of our list? Is there anything you would like to add?

What to look for when hiring a cleaner

Have you done your homework?

Your house is probably your biggest asset. I’m guessing that you worked hard to get a mortgage, to furnish and decorate each room and that you take great pride in the place you call home.

So, when thinking about hiring a house cleaning service, are you putting the same thought into it as you did into say, decorating your home or arranging your home security?

Have you dug into the background of the house cleaning service you are thinking of hiring? Did get quotes from more than one cleaning provider? Or are you only interested in who clean your home the cheapest?

You wouldn’t let just anyone into your home, would you? No of course you wouldn’t, that’s why your here

3 things a cleaning provider should have as standard

There are millions and squillions of house cleaning services out there. One for every budget and every home. How do you start to choose between them? What questions should you be asking the potential house cleaning service to know they are the real deal? Would does a good house cleaning service look like?

1. A Good House Cleaning Service Is Insured

You would think this would go without saying, but I can’t tell you how many homes I’ve been to when the client will tell me a nightmare story about a previous uninsured cleaner and the damage done to their property (and how they are usually left out of pocket)

All house cleaning services, in the UK, should have public liability insurance as standard and they should be happy to show you their certificate of insurance whenever you ask to see it.

Side note: It is worth checking that the house cleaning service you use is covered for heat if you want them to use your steam mop or iron, for example, or that they are covered for heights if you want them to clean a high ledge.

If the house cleaning service employs people to do cleaning work, it should also hold employers liability insurance to protect their staff, your property and their business.

Questions to ask the house cleaning service about insurance

What type of insurance do you have for your cleaning business? To what level of cover?

What is your business covered to do? What can you not do within a home (restrictions such as heat, height, chemicals may apply)

What would happen if a cleaner broke or damaged an item?

What would happen if the cleaner lost my house key?

How many insurance claims have you had in the time you have been trading?

If the house cleaning service cannot produce their insurance details, or always have an excuse when you ask for them, run. Run far away from them!

At Mrs Mopp, we have extra insurances than just the standard requirement, like “key-lock insurance” for example, meaning in the rare event of a key being lost or damaged, we would replace our clients locks and issue them with new keys for their peace of mind. Our business was built around how we would feel about someone being in our home, and what would make us feel safer when giving out our house keys – any house cleaning service worth their salt would be happy to share their certificate of insurance with you and to run through their policies on safety and security for your home to put your mind at ease.

Please take the time to ensure you are giving your house keys to a cleaning provider who is properly insured to clean private homes and double check that they are insured for all cleaning eventualities that are important to you!

2. A Good House Cleaning Service Will Have References and Testimonials

Unless you are the very first client of a new house cleaning service, chances are there will be someone out there that has used their cleaning services before.

When speaking with the potential cleaning provider, on the telephone or via email, prior to a home quotation, ask the cleaning provider if they have any references they can bring to the quote to show you?

As well as written references, also ask the cleaning provider if they can provide telephone references where you can speak to an actual real-life client of theirs. (If you are new to having a cleaner and are quite nervous about it, this is a great idea!)

Another port of call when checking out a house cleaning service is to take a look on the ol’ interweb and see what the world says about the service.

One word of slight warning, be careful of Facebook ratings or quotes on websites that say “Mrs A” with no other details, as many people, especially when in buisness start-up mode and looking for clients, will have their friends and family go on to give them a 5* rating as a means to boost to their page.

Even if there is a compalint on the cleaning providers page take a look to see how they dealt with it – did they deal with it or ignore the bad review? How a person/business acts in times of stress or wrong doing in normally a better indicator of integrity than those who only present a positive and 100% perfect image by deleting or ignoring problems.

As in life, the sign of a solid service or indeed person, is how they handle events when the chips are down and something has gone wrong – did the cleaning service stick to their word and make good? Was there a happy resolution?

A House Cleaning Service Should Be A Legit Business

I am guessing you work very hard to pay for your home and for all the lovely things you have inside of it. I am guessing your home is probably your biggest outlay financially, and I am also guessing that you take the protection of it quite seriously?

The reason I ask you this is because often, so many people give so little thought to whom they hire to clean their homes.

People looking for the cheapest option when it comes to cleaning work, will 9/10 be disappointed.

When on quotes, we often hear from people who hired their friend Jenny’s sisters, best friends uncle, who knew someone who cleans ,in the pub he drinks in and they said they’ll do it cash-in-the-hand and they promised they could clean their whole 5-bed house in 2 hours?!

These people end up very frustrated with their ‘house cleaning service’ (meant in the loosest way).

Personally, I don’t understand that mentality of trying to find “cheap cleaners”. Why oh why, would you just have any random person in your home, that you worked so hard for, who 1. Won’t meet any of the above-mentioned requirements, and 2. IS NOT A RESPECTABLE BUSINESS?

As a homeowner you should know that the house cleaning service you are thinking of hiring is legit – you need to know that they are insured, you need to know how they vet their staff, you need to know how they train their staff, you need to know what their complaints policy is, you need to know how they store your keys, you need to know how they record your personal information, you need to know what they would do if they lost your house key. You need to know all these things.

Homeowners should want a professional cleaning service, with procedures and structures in place, and be happy to pay the extra £2 or £3 an hour to know their home is in safe hands, with trained cleaning professionals

If you only have a certain budget for cleaning, shop around and find the right cleaning provider for you, as there will be cleaning business out there to suit your cleaning needs and your budget – yes insured, yes with references, and yes as a legit tax paying, HMRC abiding business!

For example, a house cleaning service operating from home, with all the good things we have spoken about here, should have a much lower charge rate than a cleaning business that has premises and employees for example

The point is this – don’t settle for any old cleaner just because it’s cheap, or it’s your best friends, monkeys uncles cousin will do it cash-in-the-hand. Shop around, get a few quotes, check out a few websites…

You spent months trying to find your perfect home, so it’s only right you should spend some time thinking about who you will trust to look after it.

1 in 3 homes hires a cleaner. Are you missing out on something?

Twice as many people under 35 now hire a cleaner. No longer is home-help just for the rich and wealthy.

According to the Daily Mail, 1 in 3 homes now hires a cleaner, or other home help like gardeners or window cleaners, on a regular basis, to help them maintain their home, their gardens, and sometimes even their lives!

According to the Daily Mail, 1 in 3 homes now hires a cleaner

Leading this trend of hiring a cleaner is the under 35’s who, according to 1 in 4 of them, see housework as “boring” and, quite frankly there are just more important things these millennials would like to be doing… y’know, like living life!

Why is the trend to hire a cleaner increasing?

People today are busy. Busy with careers, busy with children, busy with trying to see family and friends regularly, busy trying to fit in exercise, busy trying to fit in a hobby. Busy.

We live in a 24-hour-a-day society, who even has the time to clean the bath and remove the cobwebs anymore, nevermind the time consuming and laborious task of cleaning skirting boards and paintwork regularly, among many other regular home cleaning jobs to be done?

We are the time poor generation, with too much to do and not enough time to fit it all in. Millennials and people who value their time, would rather use their downtime time for their pleasure, rather than scrubbing, and they are willing to pay for someone to do it for them, as they see it as a good trade-off of money for time, it’s that simple.

Interestingly, one of the ways I have always motivated my staff, at Mrs Mopp, is by telling them that they are time fairies – and I fully believe it to be true!

I once had a conversation with a Moppette who said that what she does for a living doesn’t really add anything to the world or make a difference! I had to stop her there… I believe cleaners make a difference!

I said to the cleaner that if it were not for her, the couple, whose house she cleaned on a weekly basis, who are both full-time professional people, would not have the precious time available at weekends to spend with their children, they could not enjoy their family days out, and they could not all spend quality time all together.

I explained, as their cleaner, she was a time fairy and with the swish of her duster she delivered time to that family to be together every week and what a wonderful gift that is to leave in the world…

Beyond the wonderful time-saving reason for getting a cleaner, another reason people hire a cleaner is because it is just not as expensive as you think it is!

** Now, before we go further, I am not talking about cheap, unregistered, uninsured, cash-in-hand cleaners here, I’m talking about tax-paying, fully insured, trained cleaning professionals who are HMRC known individuals, cleaning businesses, cleaning agencies or part of a cleaning franchise… Cheap, cash paid cleaners are a whole other blog post, that I will cover another time, but suffice to say that good labour isn’t cheap and cheap labour isn’t good! **

So, back to your money…

Would you be happy to sacrifice a takeaway meal a week or a chocolate and wine fix, to have your home cleaned from top to bottom once a week, so that when you get home all you had to do was relax?

How about instead of spending the average of £540 a year, that a family typically spends of cleaning products, you invest it into a cleaning business that will not only supply all cleaning products but, they do all the actual cleaning too? Sounds like a no-brainer right?

The cost of a weekly cleaner will cost from £20 – £30 per week depending on the type of service you choose to use, so ask yourself when you next tuck into a pizza if you would swap it to have your bathroom sparkling and your floors clear and clean and the whole of Saturday to yourself?

So if you’ve always wanted to learn guitar, or visit friends more often, or even if you just want to sit and do nothing but relax with your evenings and weekends, it might be time to hire a cleaner and free up some of your valuable time as life really is too short…

Take a look at our other posts on “What Type Of Cleaning Services Are Available” that will walk you through the differences between sole traders, cleaning businesses, cleaning agencies and cleaning franchises, and the pros and cons of them all.

If you are thinking about the move to hire a cleaner take a look at our post “What To Look For In A Cleaner” – this post will take you through where and how to find a cleaner, and things you should know about them before you hire them.

Next week we talk about What To Expect From Your Cleaner, so be back here next Wednesday, bookmark us/add to RSS or come follow us on Twitter or ‘Like” us on Facebook to never miss a post!